Bottle Blonde
by Kuniyuki
Summary: Takeru has a secret that he's been hiding from everyone... a secret that may very well hinder his relationship with his best friend.


Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon Adventure 02.

A/N: Just a sporadic thought that came into my mind which was better off let unwritten. You might enjoy it more if you don't take things too seriously… that's my take on it anyway.

* * *

Last night Takeru contacted everyone through his D-Terminal asking for the DigiDestined to assemble in front of the courtyard approximately around 7 o'clock before school started, so that they were alone for his so-called "urgent announcement" as he put it.

"So Takeru, care to explain why you thought it was necessary to make us get up at this hour to come to school?" inquired Daisuke irritatingly, stretching his arms over his head with a bedhead that indicated he made no real effort to make himself look presentable for the occasion.

"Yeah… I'm still feeling rather tired myself," yawned Cody, not bothering to cover his mouth.

"Oh, put a sock in it Daisuke. This is Takeru we're talking about, not you. Obviously he has a legible reason for making us come this early… It must've been pretty important by the sounds of it. Anyway, is everything alright?" asked Miyako, looking at Takeru with a somewhat worried expression on her face.

"Everything's peachy," smiled Takeru wryly and then biting his lower lip. Scratching his head as if preparing for the right words to come out of his mouth, he said "Um… well, actually I've been hiding something from you all for quite awhile now."

"Hiding?" interrogated Hikari, not liking where this was going. If there was anyone who didn't keep secrets it was Takeru, she figured. _What secret could he be hiding… even from me?_

Despite this unusual remark, the gang looked indifferent (aside for Hikari) as if waiting for Takeru to shout "got you!" any time now. Although, they still weren't entirely sure what the joke was and the awkwardness was growing by the second.

Until Daisuke pointed his index finger towards Takeru and matter-of-factly remarked that he had figured it out. "Aha! I knew it!"

"Huh?" Takeru gave a quizzical glance at his leader.

"Don't try covering it up now, Takeru," said Daisuke, shrugging his head with an expression of discontent. "Now that you've decided to come clean, you should just get it over with."

"B..but how did you know? Hang on a second… what do you think I've been trying to hide?" Takeru said, trying to remain cool.

"Well isn't it obvious?" grinned Daisuke mischievously. "I always had a feeling deep down inside that you were a… _bottle blonde_!"

Miyako's mouth fell wide open. "Now that you mention it is pretty rare to see a blond in Obaiba. So that's what this was about…" she said, staring fixatedly at Takeru's hair to the point it started to feel uncomfortable for the holder of the Crest of Hope.

Takeru sighed, facepalming. "Guy's my hair colour is real. If you really needed proof, all you had to do was ask," he said, pointing at his crotch with a wink.

"Does the carpet match the drapes? That's the million dollar question, so it seems…"

"Looks like you owe me 50 bucks, Daisuke" Cody smiled sadistically. "Mail it to me before next month."

"But we still don't know for sure! For all we know he could've die—"

"OK. I think we're getting off-topic here," chimed Hikari, moving her watch closer to everyone, emphasising that time was of the essence – having said that, even Hikari was no match for the infectious grin that had spread rampant across the faces of all the DigiDestined.

Truthfully, joking around with his friends made Takeru feel more at ease than when he had first initiated conversation amongst the group.

"So what's the matter Takeru?" asked Kari, tilting her head frowning. "Or was it nothing in the first place?"

The blond could feel the anxiety slowly crawling back over him. He wondered how Hikari would react when she found out… his sudden declaration had the potential to make or break their relationship.

"The thing is…" Takeru paused, swallowing his saliva to clear his throat.

"Spit it out already man. Whatever it is we'll help you… like it or not, we're friends, remember?" Daisuke said, trying to reassure his lemon tart colour haired friend by patting him on the back. "But for that to work first you've got to trust us."

Takeru took a deep breath and shouted at the top of his lungs "I'M GAY!"

It took a minute to process what had just been uttered by the rest of the groups. Were their ears playing tricks on them? Nobody seemed to know how to react, at least not in an ordinary fashion.

"I knew this was going to happen," muttered Takeru under his breath, annoyed by himself for allowing it to get this far. _Yet still I… even though I knew it was going to turn out like this…_

"Is that so?" Daisuke smiled warmly, appearing not too taken back or disgusted by his friend's sudden announcement. To Takeru, Daisuke's smile did not look artificial in the slightest… in fact, it kind of felt nostalgic. Time felt slower, as if angels were being lured by his smile.

"I..I realized I was gay not too long ago, actually," he blurted, "It's hard to put it into words but long story short… I knew I was gay when I starting falling head over heels for this guy. At first I thought I might've been infatuated with him at first, but as It turns out, those feelings didn't wither away like I thought they would… also, I've noticed how I've been losing interest in females for quite some time now."

"It must have taken a lot of courage for you to say what you just did. All I want to say is, on behalf of all of us, thanks for confiding in your friends. "

"Daisuke…"

Takeru wondered why Daisuke didn't act in a typical fashion only Daisuke Motomiya could pull off. He didn't even question whether he was fully serious or joking. Then again… he recalled a similar event taking place when Daisuke accepted Ken with open arms when he asked for forgiveness for what he did in the Digital World. At that moment, Takeru realized this was the true Daisuke… a Daisuke not many people had the pleasure of seeing. A Daisuke that would go to the depths of hell for you. _No wonder he inherited the Digi-Egg of Friendship. _

"No, I should've said something sooner… It's just that I—I was scared, y'know?" without realizing, tears started falling on Takeru's face.

Daisuke turned around to face the others, "Any opposition?"

"Of course not," said Meiko firmly, adjusting her glasses which had somehow turned steamy, subtly covering her lecherous eyes just in the nick of time. The most apparent change in puberty Daisuke recognized in Meiko was the fact that Meiko had turned into a fujyoshi somewhere down the line, no doubt thanks to his older Sister Jun and her older sister Chizuru.

"Uh-uh," Iori seconded.

"…."

Daisuke fake-coughed to gather everyone's attention. "All those in favor of Takeru being gay, say AYE!" exclaimed Daisuke.

Everyone said aye (except for one person).

"I guess its official then—"

Hikari immediately dashed out the school premises.

"Hikari…" Takeru bemoaned.

"Dude, aren't you gonna run after her!?" Daisuke said, motioning with his hands the once standing Hikari inches away.

"There's no point…"

The school alarm rang indicating the start of first period.

"Urgh, looks like I have no other choice," said Daisuke, rubbing his temples, "Guy's I'll have this covered so go before you're late to class."

Iori's eyes widened, "But Daisuke, what about you?"

"Yeah, you can't be missing anymore lessons, Dais… you've played hooky far too many times for this to slip by the teacher," Meiko reminded their reckless leader.

"Just tell her I had a bad case of explosive _diarrhea… It's not like it hasn't happened before, thanks to Hikari's mom's cooking."_

_"Too much information, Daisuke."_

_"So are you sure you don't want to go chase after her?" Daisuke gazed at Takeru. "You know it's you who she wants—"_

_"I can't… anyway, why are you so worried for in the first place?"_

_"Because this is Hikari we're talking about. Hikari doesn't skip school, remember? And it's not like she can just go to her parent's place uninvited either… even for a newbie she knows that's instant grounding since then it's a dead giveaway that she skipped school. Also, I can't feel at ease until I know Hikari's safe is all. Alright then… I'm off."_

_Daisuke bolted after Hikari. _

**To be continued. **


End file.
